Kaz board approves Telstra buyout

The Telstra acquisition of Kaz moved one step closer last week when the service outfit’s shareholders voted more than 99 per cent in favour of the $333 million takeover.

With Telstra’s financial backing and the shareholder vote of confidence, the company is looking forward to continuing competition against its multinational competitors, according to founder and CEO, Peter Kazacos.

“This next chapter gives us a strong financial base and richer product set to take to the top echelon,” he said. “Now we can compete with our multinational friends and go toe-to-toe with them financially.”

The scheme of arrangement that outlines the takeover plan is now slated for review by the Federal Court.

The process is expected to be wrapped up by July 19.

And while the company’s days as an independent entity are numbered, Kazacos said the group would still act as a standalone unit and planned to retain its brand.

As part of its go-to-market strategy, Kaz planned to use Telstra’s data centres, which were suitable for outsourcing opportunities, he said.

“A number of our data centres are getting close to capacity, so we are looking at ways to leverage Telstra’s data centres to offer services into our current customer set and also our prospects,” Kaz said.

And as Kaz seeks new business within the business and government division, the company has been working in tandem with Telstra on bids.

The joint bid for the electronic messaging tender put forth by the South Australian government is one example.

The company also plans to add a host of Telstra offerings to the Kaz portfolio.

“Some of the offerings are in Telstra’s classic utility area [telecommunications], but also we need to understand that Telstra is successful in desktop outsourcing at the top end,” Kazacos said. “This is a complementary offering that we can extend into the tier-one space.”

IP telephony, providing capacity on-demand and applications that boost mobility wre other growth areas for the company, he said. And while the Australian market was the main focus, Kazacos said the Asian market – including Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand – was also on the agenda.

“For us, it’s all around IT outsourcing, while Telstra has communications offerings in Asia,” he said. “Our view is we should grow those because of our joint capabilities giving end-to-end opportunities.”

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